Chapter 24: The Warmth of an Ordinary Day

Sunlight seeped through the window.  

The warm light spread across the living room floor, filling the quiet space with a gentle stillness.  

“Nuna, are you ready?”  

Han-gyeol’s voice came from the end of the hallway. He was dressed casually in a comfortable shirt with a jacket draped over it.  

Matching his tone, Yu Chaeri glanced at her wristwatch and replied,  

“Yeah. Mom said she has plans today, so let’s just go shopping by ourselves.”  

“Oh, it’s been a while since the two of you went out together.”  

The two left the house and got into the car. Yu Chaeri sat in the passenger seat, putting on her sunglasses, while Han-gyeol took the wheel with ease. Soft music played quietly inside, and the road toward the city was calm.  

“Shall we head toward Cheongdam? Or Apgujeong?”  

“Just looking for some comfortable clothes to wear.”  

“Oh, the casual taste of a chaebol daughter.”  

“Shut up.”  

Yu Chaeri smirked, trying to hold back a laugh as she shot a sideways glance.  

Han-gyeol found her expression amusing and laughed out loud before steering the car toward a shopping center in Gangnam.  

---

A shopping center in Gangnam.  

Emerging from the underground parking lot, they naturally caught the attention of passersby. Yu Chaeri’s composed manner of speaking and refined appearance, coupled with Han-gyeol’s gentle yet neat demeanor, brightened the surroundings.  

The first store they visited was a casual clothing brand. Yu Chaeri silently flipped through hangers, touching the fabrics, while Han-gyeol stood beside her, gazing absentmindedly into the mirror before commenting,  

“This one’s not bad.”  

“Only for you, probably.”  

“That’s why I’m trying it on.”  

Yu Chaeri snorted and selected a few pieces. Han-gyeol stepped into the fitting room and shortly emerged with a couple of shirt buttons undone. The clean-cut shirt and slacks suited him well.  

“How’s it?”  

“Not bad.”  

“Sounds like you’re impressed.”  

“Just your imagination.”  

Shaking his head, Han-gyeol went back into the fitting room. Meanwhile, Yu Chaeri picked out some jeans and blouses, briefly chatting with a store clerk. Nodding, she took a few more items and headed toward the cashier.  

“That’s definitely an impulse buy.”  

“No, I needed them.”  

“For what?”  

“For my taste.”  

Their eyes met briefly before both bursting into laughter. Yu Chaeri always teased Han-gyeol, and he responded with a calm façade. The gentle, warm atmosphere filled the shopping center.  

“What do you want to eat?”  

“Ah, somewhere where I can take pictures wearing the clothes you just bought?”  

“What kind of standard is that?”  

“Since you’re dressed nicely, you should look nice in photos.”  

In the end, they settled into a nearby restaurant. Sitting by the window, Yu Chaeri opened the menu and asked,  

“How have you been lately?”  

Han-gyeol looked out the window before answering,  

“Not as bad as I thought. Just getting through each day.”  

“Yeah. That’s the best.”  

Yu Chaeri smiled. Though she was the second daughter of a chaebol family, and Han-gyeol the adopted youngest son, such distinctions didn’t even exist in their conversations. They looked at each other as they were, and their smiles were more genuine than anyone else’s family.  

Outside the window, spring sunlight spread warmly. An ordinary day carried on, filled with small and precious moments.  

---

“This chapter ends here.”  

I want to keep a good relationship with my younger sibling just like this.  

This story reflects my own feelings.  

Someday, the day will come when Dahye and I share a scene like this.  

I hope that day comes soon.  

---

【Mom, I want to do something with you later. Please put my cosmetics by my bedside.】  

Dahye smiled as she asked her mother to place her cosmetics on the nightstand by her bed.  

【Oppa’s seaweed soup was really good. It tasted delicious.】  

A faint smile, weak and tired.  

【Dahye doesn’t usually eat well in the hospital, but she ate well because Oppa made the food.】  
【She said to thank you for paying the hospital bills.】  

Her mother’s sad smile flashed before my eyes.  

【Oppa, I’m sorry. Take care.】  

And then… the moment I saw Dahye leaving us with tears in her eyes.  

“Dahye! Dahye! Dahye! Nooo~!”  

I woke up.  

“Huff, huff, huff.”  

The night before I lost my sister, that event appeared in my dream and gnawed at my sanity.  

The pain of that day, which I never wanted to remember or recall again, tightened around my heart.  

“Dahye…”  

Cold sweat gathered on my forehead. Whispering my sister’s name softly, I murmured.  

“Oppppaaa! Mom says it’s time to eat!”  

Just as my heart raced wildly from the nightmare and my excitement refused to calm, I heard my sister’s voice from the window connected to the yard on the first floor.  

“Ahhh, whew.”  

I took a deep breath and exhaled outside. Hearing her voice, my pounding heart finally steadied.  

“Thank goodness. It was just a dream.”  

At the moment when grief was about to settle in from the unforgettable memory, I was barely able to gather myself thanks to hearing my sister’s voice from outside.  

I got up, opened the window, and looked at the blazing sun. Taking a deep breath, I shook off the darkness that had engulfed my heart.  

“Commmme heeeereeee!”  

My sister’s voice rang out again from below.  

It was a roar that echoed through the air.  

“Heh, that brat. Alright! I’m coming!”  

Determined to shake off the lingering sadness, I shouted loudly and hurried down to the first floor.  

Thud!  

“Ahhh!”  

While stretching to go downstairs, I hit my head on the ceiling.  

Still not used to the ceiling height, I always bumped into it after waking up and ended up with a bump.  

“Ouch, ouch…”  

Thanks to that, I was wide awake and all distracting thoughts vanished.  

In their place, pain settled in.  

[Mom! Mom! Am I a cucumber?]  

[Of course you are.]  

[I hate carrots!]  

“Ha ha ha.”  

My sister laughed until her stomach hurt. A baby cucumber asked her mom cucumber if she was really a cucumber, and the mom told her, “You’re a carrot.”  

After that, the baby cucumber was shocked and ran outside.  

‘So “Of course you are” started from here?’  

“...That was really childish.”  

It was such a ridiculous commercial.  

Yet my sister couldn’t stop laughing, saying it was funny.  

[Paloma! Paloma! Paloma!]  

I laughed softly at my sister’s silly laughter point, then my gaze was drawn to the next commercial.  

Song Yoon-ah, flaunting her figure in a silk dress, opened and closed a wardrobe door as she loudly shouted.  

“Song Yoon-ah is pretty.”  

After seeing Go So-young’s short hair in the movie , I became infatuated with Song Yoon-ah’s bob, and my ideal type became women with pretty short hair.  

Watching Song Yoon-ah in her prime after a long time, I swallowed hard.  

She was truly beautiful.  

“Oppa, you’re weird…”  

My sister’s voice, mixed with scorn, came from her giggling.  

“Ah, well…”  

Suddenly, I became the weird oppa.  

“You don’t sound like oppa.”  

“Dahye, this is, you know, a very natural instinct of a man.”  

I fumbled with a weak excuse.  

“Ugh.”  

“When you see something pretty and cute, Dahye likes it too, right? Like dolls or puppies?”  

“Uh… yeah.”  

“Think of it like that. It’s a very natural phenomenon.”  

Ah, of course.  

It’s a human’s natural instinct.  

“Is that so?”  

“Yep.”  

I broke into a sweat trying to clear up my sister’s misunderstanding.  

I didn’t want to be branded as a weird oppa.  

“Dahye, do you want to go to Busan this vacation?”  

Suddenly, a memory popped up.  

【Oppa, I want to go to Busan.】  
【Dahye said she wanted to go to Busan before she left, sob sob.】  

Her voice still echoed in my ears, the promise I couldn’t keep with my sister and our friends before she passed away.  

Wanting to keep that promise, I had traveled alone to Busan.  

That day, I ate Busan food alone and wandered the beaches of Busan, thinking of my sister.  

Now I want to do what I couldn’t do that day.  

“Busan?”  

“Yeah, there’s Gwangalli and Haeundae. They’re pretty nice. I’ve been to the West Sea and East Sea, so I want to try Busan too. They have lots of delicious food and things to see.”  

Summer vacation is coming soon. I think Dad’s vacation is from late July to early August.  

Preparing in advance doesn’t seem like a bad idea.  

“Hmm…”  

My sister fell into thought.  

“Is there really a lot of food there?”  

At her age, an amusement park might be better, but if she’s okay with it, I want to go to Busan.  

With eyes full of doubt, she asked.  

“There’s tons. You’ll find shrimp, Busan fish cakes, and seafood everywhere.”  

She liked meat, but also seafood.  

Though she preferred meat now, she enjoyed eating itself.  

I want her to experience a variety of sights and foods.  

“Alright.”  

“Really? You want to go?”  

“Aren’t you the one who wants to go?”  

“Well, yeah.”  

“Let’s go.”  

“Ha, my little sister.”  

Without realizing it, I hugged her tightly.  

“Oh, come on!”  

Startled by the sudden hug, my sister said something.  

I ignored it and held her even tighter.  

“Let’s make some good memories. For sure.”  

Not wanting to forget this moment, I hugged her closer.  

She tried to push me away, but I liked even that.